World’s oldest soccer player reaches incredible milestone

Japanese forward Kazuyoshi Miura made his professional debut before Lionel Messi was even born. Nevertheless Miura, better known as ‘King Kazu’, isn’t ready to hang up his boots just yet.

Miura plays for Japan Football League (JFL) side Atletico Suzuka in the fourth division in Japanese soccer, on loan from Yokohama FC. Incredibly, Miura is now 57 years old and is widely acknowledged as the world’s oldest active soccer player.

“I had a one-and-a-half-year contract [signed in summer 2024]. I think it was a natural progression,” adding that he intends to keep playing throughout the 2025 season.

Once he takes to the field in the 2025 season, by which point he will be 58 years old, Miura will have made it to his 40th season as a professional.

Which teams has Kazuyoshi Miura played for?

Miura started as a professional in 1986 with iconic Brazilian club Santos, the team of Brazilian legend Pelé. He played for six different Brazilian clubs before moving to Europe and representing Genoa (Italy) and Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia).

Since 2005 Miura has been signed with Yokohama FC and has made 293 appearances for the J1-League team, although he has spent a lot of that time out on loan. Last year he enjoyed a brief spell on loan with UD Oliveirense in the second tier of Portuguese soccer.

King Kazu has also enjoyed a successful career with the Japanese national team, scoring 55 goals in 89 appearances. He scored 14 goals in qualifying to fire the Samurai Blue to their first-ever World Cup appearance in 1998 but was controversially omitted from the roster.

He was the first Japanese player to win the IFFHS Asia Footballer of the Year award in 1992 and his iNFLuence helped to boost the popularity of soccer in the country. His best years in Japan came shortly after the introduction of the J-League in 1993.